Resi Panels Main Breaker Phases Reversed

[readydave8]

Well, don't leave us hanging!

Criss-Cross!

 

[LarryFine]

Criss-Cross!

I thought you were going to explain why the breakers were defective.

Now I realize you were explaining why you thought they were.

 

[Doc13067]

Yeah same here. My next step is to cut some main breakers open. But we all have lives right? With a son on the way in February I’m in my office sawing open a $200 breaker just to look at the inside. I just put in a 3 phase QO MLO and the lugs were true to the busses. And even though it doesn’t matter for single phase it’s gonna absolutely kill me me trying to reconcile putting black on A and red on B and then knowing that 1&3 are B and 2&4 are A . There’s absolutely no way I’m going to put that red wire on the left even though I know damn well it’s carrying the current for all of the A phase branch circuits. I’ll never understand why they do this stuff to us…

 

[Birken Vogt]

Sometimes I give a hoot about red vs black on single phase, other times it is black and black.

Like the other day on a 12 hour service change, 6pm and the owner wants power back and I want to go home and it is too dark to see the faint red stripes on the SER, I suddenly remember that it does not matter which is which, it just goes in and it works.

 

[kwired]

My next step is to cut some main breakers open. But we all have lives right? With a son on the way in February I’m in my office sawing open a $200 breaker just to look at the inside.

Wait for the day when you remove a failed unit, and cut it open.

 

[ggunn]

Wait for the day when you remove a failed unit, and cut it open.

Why would you need to do that? On a functional unit you can check continuity with the switch closed. Phases are indeed swapped on the outputs of some residential split phase main breakers.

 

[kwired]

Why would you need to do that? On a functional unit you can check continuity with the switch closed. Phases are indeed swapped on the outputs of some residential split phase main breakers.

He wants to open one and see why they cross over.

 

[Doc13067]

Sometimes I give a hoot about red vs black on single phase, other times it is black and black.

Like the other day on a 12 hour service change, 6pm and the owner wants power back and I want to go home and it is too dark to see the faint red stripes on the SER, I suddenly remember that it does not matter which is which, it just goes in and it works.

True enough and no one but you is going to judge your red on the left so after 12 get the hell outta there!